Combined electronic nose and tongue for a flavour sensing system

We present a novel, smart sensing system developed for the flavour analysis of liquids. The system comprises both a so-called "electronic tongue" based on shear horizontal surface acoustic wave (SH-SAW) sensors analysing the liquid phase and a so-called "electronic nose" based on chemFET sensors analysing the gaseous phase. Flavour is generally understood to be the overall experience from the combination of oral and nasal stimulation and is principally derived from a combination of the human senses of taste (gustation) and smell (olfaction). Thus, by combining two types of microsensors, an artificial flavour sensing system has been developed. Initial tests conducted with different liquid samples, i.e. water, orange juice and milk (of different fat content), resulted in 100% discrimination using principal components analysis; although it was found that there was little contribution from the electronic nose. Therefore further flavour experiments were designed to demonstrate the potential of the combined electronic nose/tongue flavour system. Consequently, experiments were conducted on low vapour pressure taste-biased solutions and high vapour pressure, smell-biased solutions. Only the combined flavour analysis system could achieve 100% discrimination between all the different liquids. We believe that this is the first report of a SAW-based analysis system that determines flavour through the combination of both liquid and headspace analysis

Nonlinear magnetic field dependence of the conductance in d-wave NIS tunnel junctions

The ab-plane NIS-tunnelling conductance in d-wave superconductors shows a zero-bias conductance peak which is predicted to split in a magnetic field. In a pure d-wave superconductor the splitting is linear for fields small on the scale of the thermodynamic critical field. The field dependence is shown to be nonlinear, even at low fields, in the vicinity of a surface phase transition into a local time-reversal symmetry breaking state. The field evolution of the conductance is sensitive to temperature, doping, and the symmetry of the sub-dominant pairing channel.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Ablation of carbonaceous materials in a hydrogen-helium arc-jet flow

The stagnation-point ablation rates of a graphite, a carbon-carbon composite, and four carbon-phenolic materials are measured in an arc-jet wind tunnel with a 50% hydrogen-50% helium mixture as the test gas. Flow environments are determined through measurements of static and impact pressures, heat-transfer rates to a calorimeter, and radiation spectra, and through numerical calculation of the flow through the wind tunnel, spectra, and heat-transfer rates. The environments so determined are: impact pressure approx. 3 atm, Mach number approx. 2.1, convective heat-transfer rate approx. 14 kw/sq cm, and radiative heat-transfer rate approx. 7 kw/sq cm in the absence of ablation. Ablation rates are determined from the measured rates of mass loss and recession of the ablation specimens. Compared with the predicted ablation rates obtained by running RASLE and CMA codes, the measured rates are higher by about 15% for all tested materials

Southwest fire initiative final report: December 31, 2005

The Ecological Restoration Institute at Northern Arizona University used the Fiscal Year 2001 funds to design, implement and test scientifically credible ecological restoration treatments designed to reduce hazardous fuels while simultaneously restoring the ecological and economic integrity of frequent fire landscapes. The approach we used integrated the best research-based evidence with the practical experience of natural resource management professionals and the values of stakeholders. These treatments are the first replicated ponderosa pine restoration treatments at a landscape scale. This funding prompted many new discoveries and action on the ground. These discoveries span a wide spectrum of disciplines from bio-physical to social science. Restoration requires the integration of many forms of knowledge in a practical hands-on approach. The diversity of information in this report reflects that fact. Such an interdisciplinary approach has resulted in a broad range of advances, including, for example: the link between treatment design and fire behavior, the economic benefits of treatments and wildfire avoidance, ecosystem health changes resulting from removal of hazardous fuels, the relationship between wildlife and restoration, and especially the expanded public acceptance of, and support for, restoration treatments

Book Reviews

U.S. Multinationals and Worker Participation in Management: The American Experience in the European Community By Ton DeVos Westport, Conn.: Quorum Books, 1981. Pp. 229. Reviewed by David M. Helfeld Cooperation between Management and Labor By Walter Kolvenbach Deventer, The Netherlands: Kluwer Law and Taxation Publishers, 1982. Pp. 89. Dfl. 65.00, $26.00. Reviewed by Robert N. Covington Utilization of Outer Space and International Law By Gijs Bertha C.M. Reijnen. Amsterdam, Oxford, New York: Elsevier,1981. Pp. 179.$65.30. Reviewed by Howard J. Taubenfel

The detection of patients at risk of gastrointestinal toxicity during pelvic radiotherapy by electronic nose and FAIMS : a pilot study

It is well known that the electronic nose can be used to identify differences between human health and disease for a range of disorders. We present a pilot study to investigate if the electronic nose and a newer technology, FAIMS (Field Asymmetric Ion Mobility Spectrometry), can be used to identify and help inform the treatment pathway for patients receiving pelvic radiotherapy, which frequently causes gastrointestinal side-effects, severe in some. From a larger group, 23 radiotherapy patients were selected where half had the highest levels of toxicity and the others the lowest. Stool samples were obtained before and four weeks after radiotherapy and the volatiles and gases emitted analysed by both methods; these chemicals are products of fermentation caused by gut microflora. Principal component analysis of the electronic nose data and wavelet transform followed by Fisher discriminant analysis of FAIMS data indicated that it was possible to separate patients after treatment by their toxicity levels. More interestingly, differences were also identified in their pre-treatment samples. We believe these patterns arise from differences in gut microflora where some combinations of bacteria result to give this olfactory signature. In the future our approach may result in a technique that will help identify patients at “high risk” even before radiation treatment is started